Football Predicted To Win Conference Title

INDIANAPOLIS -- Entering its first season in the league, Ohio Dominican's football team was projected to win the Great Midwest Athletic Conference title in preseason voting conducted by the conference's head coaches.

The Panthers garnered four of eight available first place votes and picked up 52 total points in the voting. Hillsdale (one first place vote) was picked second with 49 points and Findlay (two first place votes) was projected to finish third with 48 points.

This is the third time in four years the Panthers have been preseason favorites for a conference crown as ODU was projected to win the GLIAC South Division in 2014 and 2015.

ODU is coming off of a 7-4 season in its final year in the GLIAC, with three of the four losses coming to nationally ranked teams. The Panthers have won seven or more games in six consecutive seasons, including an 11-2 mark in 2014 when the Panthers were ranked No. 4 in the nation, and a 10-1 record in 2013 when ODU won the GLIAC title.

The Panthers return 45 letterwinners (25 on offense, 20 on defense) from last year's team. The Panthers have 11 players on offense who started at least three games returning and seven on the defensive side of the ball.

The team reports to campus on Sunday, Aug. 5 for training camp, with the first practice scheduled for Monday morning.

Ohio Dominican opens its season at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 31 at California (Pa.). The Vulcans finished last season with an 11-1 record and were the top-seeded playoff team in Super Region One.

2017 Great Midwest Football Preseason Coaches Poll presented by Under Armour